Home » Pros and Cons » 18 Pros and Cons of Selling Pampered Chef

18 Pros and Cons of Selling Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef came about in 1980 when Doris Christopher felt that having access to powerful kitchen tools and informative tips could help improve the family cooking experience. She felt that with the correct products available at an affordable price, it was possible to cook faster with a “no-fuss” environment.

As lifestyles became busier over the next 30 years, many families found that sitting down for an entire meal was challenging enough. Making one together seemed like an impossible task. That’s why Pampered Chef now also focuses on enriching the lives of today’s homes. The company believes that relationships improve one memory and meal at a time. If you get together often enough, then you can transform lives.

Pampered Chef is a multi-level marketing sales opportunity, which means you must become an independent consultant to sell their items. That makes you a contractor in charge of your own business, with the benefits that come from such an experience. You’ll be hosting parties, selling products online, and working with your team to sell something that you love.

If you’re thinking about this type of opportunity, then here are the pros and cons of selling Pampered Chef to review.

List of the Pros of Selling Pampered Chef

1. You and your party guests can earn rewards just by making a purchase.

Pampered Chef offers a different monthly special for their independent consultants and the guests at their parties for discounts or free products. The January 2019 guest special, for example, is a free prep tool with a $75 purchase. When guests spend $650 or more at your party, then the host gets more to spend on products. You can then choose a product or set at a special discount if sales reach a $200 plateau.

The new consultant special for January 2019 is a free quick cooker. Just submit $1,250 in commissionable sales in your first 30 days to receive this award.

2. There are no minimum hours that you must work for Pampered Chef.

Because you are an independent consultant, it is up to you to decide how many hours you must work to reach your sales goals. You could be earning money for a vacation, to take care of school expenses, or handle the monthly car payment. Some sales reps earn enough commission to pay their mortgage each month. You can work this business around your other full-time work if you want, adjust your party schedule as needed, and you can always scale back if you want.

3. You can purchase products at a discounted price.

Pampered Chef allows you to purchase products at any time for up to a 50% discount, depending on what your current title as a consultant happens to be. The minimum product discount available to you is 20%. You will earn commissions every month on the items you sell, along with extra rewards, like free supplies, that help you to scale your business upward as you develop a consistent base of customers. Your hosts will earn rewards for the parties that they have on your behalf too. That means everyone can earn rewards just by purchasing the tools they need for their kitchen anyway.

4. It doesn’t require a massive inventory purchase to get started.

When you purchase the starter kit of your preference when joining Pampered Chef, there isn’t the same pressure to buy a lot of initial inventory to sell directly like there is with other MLM opportunities. Your role as a consultant is to sell items that customers want based on how the tools perform when you demonstrate cooking with them. Your guests will then submit an order through you (just like they would if shopping through a retailer like Zulily), then the company ships the products. That’s how you collect a commission.

This structure makes it possible to get your new home-based business up-and-running without the high levels of investment that can drain your bank account quickly.

5. You earn a reasonable commission on each product sold.

The reason why other MLM companies offer commissions of 50% or higher is that they depend on your ability to move inventory after you purchase products at a wholesale rate. Pampered Chef is different. You earn a 20% commission on the items you sell, moving up to 27% after you establish your business, plus bonuses like free products, sales training, and points toward a vacation opportunity. If you recruit others to sell with you on a team, then you earn another 3% on what everybody else achieves too.

6. It doesn’t require you to host a party in-person.

Pampered Chef has updated their structure to be adaptable with today’s technology. You can host a virtual party with your business as a way to earn a commission too. Life offers a busy schedule, so it isn’t always possible to meet people in person. You’ll still share recipes, cooking tips, and maybe offer a giveaway to create a fun experience for everyone. Most of these events happen on Facebook, but it can occur with any social community. It could be a cooking party or a fundraiser – either way, you still get the benefits.

7. There are other ways to sell Pampered Chef products.

Most people are familiar with the Pampered Chef parties, where someone cooks a quick meal for everyone using the recipes and products offered by the company. You can also choose a catalog party, a fundraiser, or a wedding shower as a way to sell items as a consultant too.

Catalog parties allow you to pass the latest product collection around the office, talk about them with friends, or have someone submit a direct order through you. Fundraiser parties allow you to give a percentage of the sales to a charitable organization instead of receiving host rewards to the cause you choose. Wedding showers allow you to have all your friends purchase items needed for the new couple’s home while you receive the reward of a commission while helping a friend.

8. You don’t need to know how to cook to sell Pampered Chef.

Although it does help to know how to use the cooking tools offered by Pampered Chef if you want to be an independent consultant, this skill isn’t a stipulation of service. Many successful consultants discovered their love of cooking and food because they took the step to start their own business. You’ll get to show people how the tools solve critical issues in the kitchen. Product information cards come with your starter kit too for an additional resource, while online trainings are also available.

9. It doesn’t require you to be a director to earn a vacation or gift certificate.

Your sales activities allow you to earn points towards a vacation opportunity when you sell Pampered Chef, even if you only work part-time. Unlike other direct sales opportunities, you don’t need a specific title to take these trips. Vacations to Alaska, Disneyland, Italy, Mexico, and others are available each year. You can also opt for a gift certificate if you don’t wish to travel instead.

You’ll need to host about four shows per month to earn the first incentives, while the top trips happen with about eight shows per month.

10. The catalog offered by Pampered Chef remains relatively consistent.

Several MLM and direct sales companies will change their catalogs every month, requiring you to purchase more of them to offer the latest products. Some agencies even switch them up twice per month. Pampered Chef offers their consultants more consistency in this process, changing their catalog of items only twice per year. That makes it a lot easier to know what you’re selling at each party, and at the correct price, instead of constantly distributing new catalogs to your customers.

11. You earn a real paycheck when you work with Pampered Chef.

There are fewer books to keep as an independent consultant with Pampered Chef compared to other organizations. That’s because you earn a direct commission instead of a resale profit on what you sell. The company pays its consultants twice per month through a direct deposit process. Then you’ll receive a 1099 form in the U.S. each year to file your taxes.

Since you have no deliveries, you don’t pay for host benefits, and there are fewer overhead costs, many reps find that they can earn more when working with Pampered Chef than other MLM opportunities they pursued in the past.

List of the Cons of Selling Pampered Chef

1. You must pay for a starter kit to become an independent consultant.

There are three tiers of starter kits made available to new consultants when they want to get started on their selling journey. The goal is to sell the items in the kit you prefer at retail, which means you could make a profit of more than $300 if you were to sell everything. These are your options as of January 2019.

• The Starter kit is priced at $109, providing a theoretical value of more than $450.
• You can choose the Deluxe kit for $159, which has a value of over $650.
• There is also the Ultimate Kit at $249, with a total retail value of more than $1,000.

If you don’t purchase the kit, then you’re unable to be an independent consultant.

2. There is a minimum sales level you must maintain to stay active.

Although you can start earning a commission with your first party, that is not always the case for every new consultant. If you find yourself struggling to make sales, then the minimum requirements may come into play. You must maintain a minimum of $150 per month to keep an active business. If you don’t earn that in customer sales, then you can fulfill the obligation by making wholesale products of future inventory (or for your personal kitchen needs) to remain active.

3. It requires you to have a recruiter to sign up.

You automatically become a member of a current consultant’s team when you decide to start selling Pampered Chef products. If you don’t know anyone who sells these items, then you must look online for a consultant in your area during the checkout process for your starter kit. There is no option to start from scratch to begin forming your own team. Although your team lead can offer practical tips which help to support your business endeavors, you’ll find that trying to establish a base of customers can be challenging since you’re working in the same neighborhoods and towns as everyone else.

4. You lose your career sales figures if you go inactive.

If you don’t meet the current minimum requirement to stay active as a Pampered Chef consultant, then you will lose your career sales. If you don’t meet the requirement the first time, then you’ll receive a letter reminding you of your status. No one will chase you down to restore your status, but you do have 11 months to submit the minimum standard to become active once again.

5. You’ll pay the self-employment tax in the United States.

Because you’re a 1099 worker with Pampered Chef, your independent contractor status for tax purposes requires you to pay the self-employment tax. You’re responsible for the employer and employee share of Medicare and Social Security in the United States. That figure is 15.3% of the income you earn. This figure applies to the first $128,400 of employment income earned in 2018. You do get to claim a deduction for a portion of it when filing your taxes, but the amount you pay will be more than what someone under a typical employment contract would shell out each year.

6. It still creates a “family and friends” issue.

There is less pressure on consultants with Pampered Chef since you’re selling items people purchase all the time anyway. You’re hosting parties or having others host them for you to earn great rewards. Many reps still find that they fall into the “family and friends” trap, especially when they first get started. These people will support you at first, but they cannot be your only source of revenue. If you struggle to expand your network as a sales rep, then that well will eventually run dry, and you might find yourself struggling to meet the required minimums.

7. You don’t have a guaranteed income selling Pampered Chef.

Some sales positions offer you a guaranteed base salary, then commission on top of that when you generate revenues. That is not the case if you choose to sell Pampered Chef. Your income is based on the prospecting work that you do. It is possible to host a party and not make a single sale. You might find that no one is interested in your virtual parties either. Although most reps can host at least one party per month to meet the necessary minimums, you might find that the compensation for your work is sub-minimum compared to other opportunities that are available.

The pros and cons of selling Pampered Chef depend upon your willingness to work, your ability to discipline yourself, and the scope of your current personal and professional networks. Some reps earn a full-time income working part-time as a consultant. Others struggle to meet the bare minimum. If you’re looking for a business that can move with you, however, it is difficult to find an income resource like this one.

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